Flag football continues to grow among young athletes

According to Youth Sports Business Report, flag football has become the fastest growing youth sport in the nation with more than 2.4 million kids participating in organized programs.

Youth tackle football participation has declined 12.2 percent since its peak in 2008-2009, falling below 1 million high school players for the first time this century.

Primary reasons for the decline revolve around health and safety concerns, particularly concussions and other brain injuries. These have been the catalysts for the shift at all levels toward flag football.

The NFL is exploring the development of a professional flag football league. The sport’s inclusion in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics marks a milestone in mainstream acceptance.

Boys’ flag football has been a staple in Iowa recreation programs at the earliest ages. I don’t know if the sport has caught on with young girls in the city-sponsored programs, although locally girls can play alongside boys in the rec programs. But the sport for girls is growing at the high school level across the country.

The Florida High School Athletic Association started girls’ flag football about 20 years ago, but its growth across the country has come in the past five-to-seven years, according to The National Federation of High School Association. Nine states have sanctioned the sport for girls (Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Nevada, Alaska, New York, Arizona, Illinois and California).

Colorado and Montana are expected to sanction flag football this year. Other states are at varying stages of pilot programs. The NFHS has been asked by member school associations to publish national playing rules.

What about Iowa?

Chris Cuellar, Communications Director for the Iowa High School Athletic Association, said, “We have discussed boys’ flag football amongst the IHSAA staff for a couple of years and led a more formal discussion on it with our board at last year’s annual meeting. Our board wanted to wait to carry discussions any further until more member schools were leading or providing the activity. It was not considered a sport request that was coming from our schools, and was more activity/organization driven.”

Erin Gerlich, Executive Director of the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union, said the possibility of adding flag football has been discussed.

“(Flag football) is becoming increasingly popular in other states and there is also growing interest here in Iowa for different age groups,” she said. “We took it to our member schools last year … to gauge interest and get feedback … While a handful of schools showed interest or had already started a club, the overwhelming majority said they were not interested in supporting a high school program at this time.

“Much of this was because of the recent sanctioning of girls’ wrestling — schools were wanting to get those programs established and supported first before adding another program.

“There is a path in place for those sports who wish to be sanctioned. At least 50 of our member schools (roughly 15 percent) must have a commitment to starting a varsity program, with a plan in place to do so. We are happy to connect programs looking for competition or opportunities, but at this time we’ll let flag football grow organically on its own with the communities.”

An advantage of flag football is it’s a sport of inclusivity, it can be played in any season, it’s fast-paced and offers excitement of tackle football with a reduced risk of injury. Cost also is minimal since athletes need little more than a uniform, and a pair of cleats or athletic shoes.

“In 2023, about 500,000 girls ages 6 through 17 played flag football — a 63 percent increase since 2019,” said Dr. Karissa Niehoff of the NFHS. “At a higher level of competition, more universities are beginning to offer flag football for girls, which will certainly enhance the appeal for girls playing the sport at the high school level.”

While the NFL is maintaining support for tackle football with improved safety and technique education, it also has increased marketing dollars and organizational resources into promoting flag football. NFL FLAG includes more than 1,600 teams serving over 620,000 youth athletes across all 50 states. The International Federation for American Football has reported 2.4 million American kids are now playing organized flag football.

Roman Oben, the NFL’s Vice President of Football Development, said, “If a kid does nothing but play video games on his phone all day, he’s less likely to join a tackle league. But if there’s 100 kids who play flag, you’re likely to get 20 of them playing tackle because they just want to do the next thing.”

At this time in Iowa, it looks like the addition of flag football at the high school level will depend upon the development of the sport at the local level. If you want your kids to play flag football, either for boys or girls, reach out to other parents and/or your recreation departments.

Nancy Justis is a partner with Justis Creative Communications and the founder of Iowa Youth Sports Initiative. Contact her at najustis120150@gmail.com